The Vikings ditched the Triangle of Authority and named Rick Spielman sole general manager not long after their 2011 season (mercifully) ended. Naturally, many Vikings fans expected Spielman to start signing free agents as soon as possible, anything to erase the memories of a 3-13 season that saw the Vikings take several steps backward while the Packers, Lions and Bears got better.

Those marquee free-agent signings never came. Instead, Spielman appears to be doing his best Ted Thompson impersonation by signing no-name free agents and talking about building through the draft. The one exception was signing TE John Carlson to a five-year, $25 million deal.

The Vikings are in a weird spot. They have a young QB that may or may not be a long-term solution. Their best offensive player tore his ACL at the end of last season. Their coach has no personality and is unproven. And their defense keeps getting older.

They’re not only rebuilding, they’re in the infant stages of rebuilding.

On top of all that, owner Zygi Wilf is in the fight of his life trying to get taxpayer funding to build a new stadium. I suppose there is a chance that 2012 may be the last season the Packers play the Vikings, the Minnesota Vikings, anyway. If had to take an educated guess, though, I’d say that Wilf eventually gets his stadium and the Vikings will blow their horns in Minnesota for many years to come.

But a new stadium might be the only good news for Vikings fans in the near future. This team is rebuilding, and it’s going to take a while before they contend in the NFC North again.

Trades:Traded a 3rd round pick in 2012 and 2013 for WR Brandon Marshall

Holes on Roster:G (both), C, S (both)

Lost in all the talk about how Brandon Marshall’s off-field problems could impact the Bears this season is the fact that Marshall’s on-field performance wasn’t all that special in 2011. He’s a definite upgrade, but let’s not confuse the Bears bringing in Marshall with the Patriots bringing in Randy Moss in 2007. Re-uniting Marshall with Jay Cutler helps the Bears, but it doesn’t address the main problem areas on this team.

For example, the Bears offensive line remains a mess. Nobody on the line stands out, and the guards are especially bad. Tackle Gabe Carimi, last year’s first-round pick out of Wisconsin, coming back from injury should help.

Good luck trying to stop Green Bay and Detroit with Major Wright, Craig Steltz and Winston Venable as your safeties. I suppose the draft could help in this area, but by most accounts, this draft is weak on safeties.

And to top it off, Matt Forte, one of the best running backs in football, is upset about the Bears signing Michael Bush.

The Bears have made a lot of noise this offseason. They do every offseason. If trophies were awarded for winning the offseason, the Bears would be annual favorites. But just like Marshall’s off-field issues overshadow his on-field play, all the offseason noise made by the Bears overshadows the fact that Chicago should be in the thick of things in the NFC North.

The Lions have the core of stars to be successful for a long time. Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson, Nkomukong Suh, Cliff Avril — I’d take that group. Now we’ll find out if they can develop other talent and depth to actually make it happen.

A good place to start would be the secondary. If the Lions want to slow down Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay and Jay Cutler with his new weapons in Chicago, they’ll need better corners and safeties. Salary cap issues prevent the Lions from fixing the secondary through free agency so look for Detroit to make it a draft priority (perhaps Janoris Jenkins).

Upgrades are needed on the offensive line, too. Stephen Peterman is replaceable at right guard and Gosder Cherilus is inconsistent at right tackle.

But with 21 of 22 starters from last season’s 10-6 team under contract and returning, the Lions don’t need a major overhaul in any one area, just a little fine tuning and continued improvement from within.

As long as Stafford stays healthy, this team will bother the Packers for the foreseeable future. You win in the NFL with stars, and the Lions have a bunch of them. Now we’ll see if they can develop the other pieces to complement that star power.

Power Rankings

Here’s how I would rank the NFC North right now:

1. Packers
2. Bears
3. Lions
4. Vikings

We’ll check back and see if that’s changed after the draft.

Quick update: Yes, I have the Bears over the Lions…for now. The reason for this is head coaching. I think Lovie Smith is great. Calm, cool and collected. Lions coach Jim Schwartz might be insane. Sometimes insane is a good thing, but not always.

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Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .

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Good post, Adam, but I would give the Lions the edge over the Bears. I expect 2012 to be a dogfight between the Packers and the Lions for the NFC North crown.

Adam Czech

My gut agreed with you, Jim, but my head told me to give the edge to the Bears, barely.

I picked the Bears (for now anyway) by the slightest of margins because of head coaching. I’ll take the calm, cool and collected Lovie Smith over the borderline insane Jim Schwartz.

JimR_in_DC

You do have a point there, Adam.

Lucas

You also said “power rankings” and not “order of finish”. Bear’s weak record will provide a weaker schedule, too.
Speakin’ of which, how does each team (Bears, Lions) look compared to their respective schedules?

Normthe1

I went the other way, Lions over da Bears BECAUSE of ol’ crazy eyes Schwartz…

Ron LC

Let’s admitt this, the Packer D was just plain bad last year.

That said the Vikes were vulnerable with a one dimensional Offense and a poor D. No change there.

The Bears had what they thought was a good defense. They have a limited offense that is relying on a head case to revitalize Cutler. At the end of last year the aging Bear defense started to show their vulnerability. Can Lovie get one more year of quality play out of Urlacher and Briggs? That’s the key to the Bears this year.

The Detroit vaunted defense proved to be anything but. Stafford once again hobbled through part of the season (the glove games). It’s likely to happen again. It’s just his history.

GB must, I repeat, must get better defensively. 2011 should be an embarassment to Capers, TT and MM. I like the straight talk coming from MM. It was a failure of basics. Coverage, QB pressure, and tackling lead the failures. They will fix it!

1. GB
2. Bears
3. Lions
4. Queens

Good review Adam

Pat M

agree with GB, Bears, Lions and Queens.

Bear old D will wear down at 2nd half of season. Cutler will want to prove himself.

Lions D will come on because of more experience. Same as Packers did 2 years ago. Of course they will score points.

Difference maker will be Queens will beat someone because they are taken too lightly. They are pro’s, they will get a left tackle, CB (DB) and WR. Any of the three others that don’t take them seriously will be upset and that ranking changes based upon those upsets.

Ron LC

Off topic – Hargrove is tweeting he has agreed to a FA contract w/ GB.

Thought you’d like to know.

Dean Somerville

Sorry it has taken me a very long time to look at this post.

I generally try to get a view of other ideas before going off completely half cocked, but the time is right.

Da Bears????? Arguably the worst O Line in the NFL, managed to get Cutler and Forte injured…… and had ZERO help in the offseason. Maybe a Beat up, Tired, Old Defense can keep them at that magic .500 to prolong the inevitable and badly required overhaul. Until then Mr. .500 Cutler will continue to put up good numbers and lead a team to .500. Seriously 3rd and sliding.

Packers filled some holes and lost….. less than the Lions, whom are also on the incline slope.

A division of 2 halfs….. Lions Chasing the Packers, but ending up with a wildcard, Bears chasing the Vikings towards a much needed rebuild.